War taking higher toll on Afghan civilians this year, UN reports - 20% of casualties due to NATO

[bigtree]

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — New figures suggest Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of the insurgent war.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan says 2,038 civilians were killed in the first 10 months of this year. That's an increase of almost 11 per cent. Most of the deaths were due to insurgents.

However, about 20 per cent of the casualties were due to international coalition forces.

article: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iVfuWJUeSLeHBE0nyRstewA8f5jA



___Civilian deaths in Afghanistan rose more than 10 percent in the first 10 months of 2009, UN figures showed Tuesday, amid anger over the alleged killing of children in a Western military operation.

Figures released to AFP by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) put civilian deaths in the Afghan war at 2,038 for the first 10 months of 2009, up from 1,838 for the same period of 2008 -- an increase of 10.8 percent.

The figures were released a day after President Hamid Karzai launched an investigation into reports that 10 people, most of them school children, were killed in a raid by foreign troops near the Pakistan border.

The UN calculations show the vast majority, or 1,404 civilians, were killed by insurgents fighting for the overthrow of Karzai's government and to eject Western troops.

UNAMA said 468 deaths were caused by pro-government forces, including NATO and US-led forces, and 166 by "other actors".

report: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3767115

[MadHound]

1. Killing innocents,

All for our imperial war.

Somehow I think that this twenty percent figure is much, much higher, they're just trying to keep the reality of the war from hitting home.

[bigtree]

2. right

We never see the evidence that all killed were 'insurgent' or 'combatant', as is regularly claimed by the military after their strikes and raids.

[bigtree]

3. .

[tekisui]

4. A sad rec.

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. And another.

[unhappycamper]

7. And another.

:(

[gratuitous]

6. And al Qaeda is gathering strength

Maybe this isn't a problem with a violent solution? I proposed that on another thread, and was told in no uncertain terms how wrong I am, but I just can't seem to shed this nagging feeling that indiscriminate killing is the path to stability and peace.

[bigtree]

8. it's a natural reaction

. . . to question the efficacy of our militarism in the face of the stark increases in resistant violence and the increase in the number of individuals willing to identify their resistance against the U.S. military advance across their homeland with our al-Qaeda nemesis.

[L0oniX]

9. "Be all you can be in the ****" Occupation ...killer